So my shepsky that I just rescued is so wonderful! He isn’t however very cuddly, which I assume is from being alone in the shelter and god knows what else he went through. He doesnt seem to like being in the house. He wants me to stay outside with him but just lays down in the house and won’t move. I give him treats and toys and the other dogs try to play with him, but he just lays there. Will he get over this?
How long have you had him. Ginger didn’t get playful until these last couple of weeks and I got her in October. Good food, less stress, etc. ;these things all have to “take”.
Paula
I got him Friday. I’m clearly just ready for him to be a big ball of cuddles!
:lol::lol: Oh dear!
Paula
It’s going to take a while. Some more than others. When I first brought my collie home, she was either glued to the sofa or outside…the transition between in and out was rough too. She refused to walk through doors. She’s been here for almost 2 1/2 years and it took about 1 1/2 for her to completely come out of her shell.
Give him time. Not too much pressure, but don’t completely buy into fears either. You have to push just a little to try new things, but back off way before he freaks out.
He may never be a cuddle, but I’ll bet he grows to love you.
We adopted some dogs from a pound in late November. One has been particularly interesting and had been deemed a bite risk and aggressive by the pound. I was surprised that he prefers to be inside the house, but the important thing that I notice is that he is very afraid that he’s going to do something wrong - and the poor guy has done a few things wrong - not much and he certainly tries not to. You can see the stress in him and we’re working on letting him know that he can be comfortable in doing the right thing. My point is that it does take time for them to figure out what the rules are, and perhaps your new dog is just trying to avoid doing anything that is wrong in the house, especially if he’s not familiar with being inside the house. I’m sure he’ll learn a lot for the other dogs and will really come into his own pretty soon and enjoy the house environment when he’s comfortable that he’s not going to make any mistakes.
[QUOTE=LauraKY;7339267]
It’s going to take a while. Some more than others. When I first brought my collie home, she was either glued to the sofa or outside…the transition between in and out was rough too. She refused to walk through doors. She’s been here for almost 2 1/2 years and it took about 1 1/2 for her to completely come out of her shell.
/78
Give him time. Not too much pressure, but don’t completely buy into fears either. You have to push just a little to try new things, but back off way before he freaks out.
He may never be a cuddle, but I’ll bet he grows to love you.[/QUOTE]
Now, this is interesting to me. One of the dogs I got is a border collie who is just a basket case which is the reason I got her. She really has real difficult going outside from inside, or coming inside from outside. During the time we’ve had her, she has come a long way, and now, she will come in from outside which is much better. She just collapses most of the time when we try to lead her.
The vet prescribed a heart med for her limit her anxiety and I haven’t used it yet as she really is progressing, but I did pick up the presciption. I’m thinking of having a full thyroid test run.
It seems that your collie is similar to my bc.
He is certainly one that doesn’t want to do anything wrong. He has only had one accident in the house and that was the day I brought him in. He isnt fixed yet so he started to mark his territory. As soon as he lifted his leg, I said “NO! Outside” and that was it. One of the dogs in the house will have accidents from time to time, so I know he can smell that and I am so surprised that he isn’t marking everything! You tell him no once and that’s that. No more. I just can’t imagine how he ended up at the pound. They said his owners surrendered him, so I assumed that he was going to be horrible. The shelter said he was very high energy, and I just dont see that in him here at home. He is so chill even with the other two VERY high strung dogs running around.
Some dogs are very happy outside (I had a Beardie who’d stay out in the blowing snow, completely satisfied to be outside), and huskies are famously hardy. In this case, maybe the dog has limited inside experience and is a bit wary of the indoors. Maybe let him be alone in a room to adjust without also dealing with new canine and human rommates - a room her can’t do much damage to, like a bathroom or hallway.
I can see the fear of doing something wrong in the one dog. I think as he becomes more secure, yours will show his affection more. These dogs have been through a lot. One of the other dogs we got is one that knew us well before she was in the pound. She came out so happy to see a familiar face and seemed to do great. She had a mammary tumor and when we left her for her surgery and to have her teeth done, she “seemed” fine, but the look in her eyes was really questioning. The vet and staff were absolutely great with her, but while she was there she had extremely bloody diarrhea which the vet said was simply the stress of being left there as she did several tests and it didn’t happen before or after. It’s understandable that it will take time for them to really feel secure and comfortable.
As for the change in energy level, he may just be very tired right now. My big guy is just now really sleeping OK.
Don’t lock him in anything small, that would be cruel if he is claustrophobic which it sounds like. Just go about your daily routine moving in and out with him and he will get comfortable. If you need to do so, see if he will like a cave in a corner with a crate covered in blankets. Who knows what his association is with a house, there could have been horrible tension or fighting in the last house or he simply could never have been in one and not know how to act. We adopted a 10 year old female Rough Collie/German Shepherd cross who had been with the same family for her life and then her person went into an old folks home and she was sent to the shelter. She was adopted out once and made a mistake in the house and they brought her back. When I went to look for a dog I felt so sorry for her because she had absolutely given up. Shepherds and collies do not do well in the shelter environment, less so even than others. In any case, she never did want to come in the house. I think the house was too small and she was too warm because she had a thick coat but she just did not want to be inside.
We usually talk about the honeymoon period lasting about two to three weeks in new dogs. There are a few rare dogs that show you their true personalities and temperaments from Day One, but for the most part dogs go through a period of time where they seem to be on their best behavior. They are shut down to a certain extent, and will slowly start to emerge as the stress of change dissipates and they realize their needs for food, etc. are going to be met. They get the hang of new routines and relax.
OP, what you see in these initial first days and weeks is very likely going to have little to do with the dog you have in a month. I can’t tell you how many dogs I brought home to foster, straight out of the shelter (it was an occupational hazard-I ran the foster program), that ended up being NOTHING like they presented in the shelter.
Sheilah
Zero judgments on this dog’s personality for two weeks. And I mean ZERO. He has no idea if he’s just passing through your place; it’s not his home.
I’d like to say let him settle in for a month, but few are that patient, but can make the two weeks. I don’t mean don’t ask basic behavior of him, but as you say, you don’t know what he’s been through and the poor thing may be wary of affection. Please give him time.
Be encouraged, though. I have two rescue dogs who were entirely adverse to be touched when I got them. You could just tell they didn’t like being petted or stroked or to be touched in any way. I merely accepted them for what they were because I understood where they were coming from and both of them today are the biggest cuddle-bugs in the world and adore snuggling.
If he hasn’t spent time inside he might need more structure initially. I know someone who took on a retired drug dog and they provided a very structured environment for the first few weeks. He was either crated or on a leash initially. He was offered chews and kongs but otherwise they didn’t try to get him to engage with toys or run around in the house. As he became more comfortable they loosened up the structure and allowed him more freedom. He became a very well adjusted dog in time.
If he was surrendered for being high energy you may not see that behavior for a long time since he is uncomfortable. As he settles into indoor life he may become significantly more energetic.
The shelter said they saw him being full of energy and probably not a house dog. The people who surrendered him said he was a stray, so I don’t really know. I put him in my bed tonight and he layed there for a while until he got hot and wanted a drank. I turned on a fan and he is laying next to it on the floor now. As far as him being inside, I’ve let him have access to all the rooms in the house. He won’t go in bedrooms unless accompanied by me though. He just peers in the door and turns around. I decided not to crate train him right now as he does so well in the house and stays in the fence alone. He gets microchipped tomorrow morning since I’m going back to work and I’m worried he may get his collar with his tag off in the event he may try to escape, which I don’t see happening since he hasn’t tried yet and has been outside for hours alone. I’m so happy I adopted him! He has helped me deal with everything that’s been going on in my life, more than I have helped him.
When I adopted my rat terrier she had clearly been kept in a kennel and not picked up much. It was like going to a foreign country to her to be inside… much less on a couch. For the first little while every time I picked her up she would just freeze in whatever stance she was in when I touched her. It was quite odd. She figured it out and I was very patient with her. She’s an amazing little dog now.
She’s still a little catlike in that she only wants minimal attention and then likes to be on her own or with the other dogs and cats.
She had also clearly been trained to walk on a leash like a show dog. She would not let you walk on the wrong side of her and she would NEVER pee or poop on a leash. I’ve broken that training now. Ha ha.
Dogs handle transitions differently. When my family got our dog, a Border Collie, from my mom’s uncle, she went through a real awkward phase. She had lived in their house the whole time she was with them (a few years, after getting her from a breeder as an adult) and was loved, but she took awhile to get adjusted. I distinctly recall her not wanting to play at all, with anything, with anybody. My sister and I were able to lure her into playing after awhile by throwing toys back and forth. Guess her herding drive kicked in and she couldn’t resist! Within a few months she played with us like a normal dog. Stairs were another thing. My aunt and uncle’s house was a ranch. No steps. We lived in a townhouse. Getting her to go up the steps was much easier than going down, but it took awhile to get her to use the steps totally on her own. By the time she passed at age 15 she was still better about going up steps than down. She always sort of hesitated and sometimes needed some extra encouragement. She didn’t go down steps unless she had a really good reason.
Please rethink the amount of freedom you are giving this dog. You are setting him up for failure.
Sheilah
My collie was an animal control seizure for abuse. She was terrified of everyone and everything. She felt safe only on the sofa.
I had to force her to be brave for her own good, but in small steps. The foster home she had been in for 6 months did nothing to try to make her less fearful. They were carrying her in and out of the doors to go outside.
She was even terrified of the leash. First thing I did was to convince her that a leash wasn’t going to kill her. Once we got past that (lots of treats and good dogs) we moved on to going in and out of the door while on the leash. Over and over and over. Lots of verbal rewards.
It took her forever to leave the living room and the sofa. She still avoids the laundry room with the collie eating washing machine and the long dark hall. It took years for her to gain confidence. She’s just now has enough nerve to bark at someone that she doesn’t know when they come into the house.
It takes time, patience and love. He will come around. Don’t push too hard, but don’t buy into his fears either.
[QUOTE=IdahoRider;7340505]
Please rethink the amount of freedom you are giving this dog. You are setting him up for failure.
Sheilah[/QUOTE]
I have had him since Friday morning and he hasn’t shown any signs of wanting to get out of any fence he was put in. Not mine, which has our neighbors dogs running all around barking, nor my parents, which has their neighbors female running around trying to play with him. I think he is good in a fence. As far as having full range of the house, he is with me the whole time. he doesnt wander far and if he does, I call him and he comes back. I don’t see how I am setting him up for failure
